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I have 40 years of camp notes, for every hunt every day .Who was there What happen Animals seenWeather Temps DinnersThe works.Write in a journal every morning and every night.
Quote from: ghosthunter on April 27, 2026, 02:55:44 PMI have 40 years of camp notes, for every hunt every day .Who was there What happen Animals seenWeather Temps DinnersThe works.Write in a journal every morning and every night.Wow, I love that. What a cool keepsake to pass down to family someday. Any memorable entries you'd like to share?
I tried it. Couldn't keep consistent with it. Went from writing a lot, to writing a little, to forgetting about it entirely. Between multi-day backcountry trips where you're not packing a journal, going all day, making dinner and immediately going to sleep, half days then driving home, etc. I just couldn't keep up with it. Maybe if I hunted fewer days overall, less time in the field, on my own property with a cabin or something.
I keep a daily hunting journal. Originally to try and figure out if the game were moving up or down due to date, moon, and weather. Now I use it to record weather, time I left camp and returned, and numbers of hunters seen, deer/elk seen, bucks/bulls seen, shots heard, game other than deer/elk seen, opportunities, and possibilities. As in a brief glimpse of a medium buck walking at 200 yds is a 1/4 of a scope, and a big one standing broadside at 100 yds is three full crosshairs in the journal. Running at 300 yds or more would not count as a possible opportunity. Shots taken, location and traveling direction of game targeted, time of shot, distance, rifle used and results. It's also where I write down names of people I meet, since I Can't Remember S, noteworthy interesting sign, and basic thoughts about lessons learned that day. Mostly the hard way. Having to look back at mistakes on the pages over the years helps reinforce what I learned.It helps that I have a dining table in the trailer, and makes for a nice after dinner routine. I generally drink during the afternoon so don't usually hunt in the evening. Also keeps me searching for something memorable each day. Even as not related to hunting success or ideas. A tree that I have always used as a landmark had a squirrel sitting at it's base, or a hawk that screeched good morning. A patch of berries, the color of the grass, the mid-morning lull is never dull for me as I mentally revise my entry for the day. I filled the last page of my journal last year, and it will be tough to start a new one. So many great memories and heartbreaks in those leather bound pages. The new one is much larger, a gift from a friend that has passed on. Not an artist but I make a sketch of powerful moments to help me recall them later, and a basic image of any animal I kill, and even some I didn't even try to. I also keep a salmon fishing/ boat maintenance log for saltwater but don't record river and lake trips.
Quote from: hunterednate on April 27, 2026, 03:19:39 PMQuote from: ghosthunter on April 27, 2026, 02:55:44 PMI have 40 years of camp notes, for every hunt every day .Who was there What happen Animals seenWeather Temps DinnersThe works.Write in a journal every morning and every night.Wow, I love that. What a cool keepsake to pass down to family someday. Any memorable entries you'd like to share?I have many this is e eryone favorite.A Gift From GodBack in the 1980 we were hunting as a group in E Wa. We had a pack that if someone got a deer down they would let the other know by firing the Meat Shot. ( two quick, one delayed shots)Evan and Brad went up one side of Canyon. Crazy Ron and I up the other.About10 am we hear two shots. Then a few minute later the meat shot. It was Evan and Brad.Crazy Ron and I walk to the edge and look down and can see they have a deer. We decide not go help them because they are right above an old cat road and they have a home made game cart.Ron and I hunt 3 hrs more and go back to truck. We slowly drive towards camp. The up hill bank is 30 ft or more. Now Ron is a little dialectic.All of a sudden this deer strapped to a cart comes flying through the air from the up hill ,lands 10 feet in front of my truck and the wheels pop off. We hit the brakes.Ron looks at it,looks at me, looks back at the deer and says “ Gift From God”We get out look at it scratching our heads, and we hear two guys cussing at each other above us. Turns out Evan and Brad had put their deer on a cart and tied a rope to it. They had come down the steepest part of the hill , lost control and the cart took off with the deer.For years after they argued as to whose fault it was that the cart got away.
My logs would have been very disappointing the last 5 years hunted for waterfowl with the lack of ducks. Still get out scouting with nothing to write about these days. Regret not documenting with pictures showing what the Columbia basin once produced regularly for duck numbers at peak times consistently. But since taking it for granted back then now considering a liar or being negative from today’s hunters. My former hunting partner would have ate his words but since not having the proof makes it my fault believing everyone knew the same history as me.
Some successful log pics
